The idea that many of our perceptions of other people are shaped by our own biases and expectations is not new. What is quite extraordinary is how extreme this divergence is when it comes to Donald Trump. Where his critics see ignorance, his supporters see a big picture person who leaves the details to others. Where his critics see someone who cheats and stiffs other people and finagles his taxes, his supporters see a brilliant business mind. Where his critics see a petty, narcissistic, insecure person who lacks self-awareness and cannot acknowledge even the smallest mistake or fault, his supporters see a dominant and inerrant man, who is so sure of himself that he never needs to back down. Where his critics see a racist, misogynist, xenophobe, his supporters see someone who is not afraid of being ‘politically incorrect’. Where his critics see arrogance, his supporters see self-confidence. Where his critics see a lack of empathy, his supporters see a hardheaded realist.
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For those like me who expected a boring debate between the two running mates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, each so low-key that wags called the event ‘The Battle of the Blands’, were surprised. It was quite lively though not very informative. The latter feature is not unexpected, since campaigns now put all their substantive positions on their websites and simply refer viewers to them and use the debates to paint broad-brush pictures of themselves and their opponents.
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Charles Krauthammer is a prominent neoconservative commentator who has been reliably Republican for as long as I can remember. But he is also one of the few Republicans who have been critical of Donald Trump. In his latest column, he points out some examples of Trump’s ridiculously grandiose claims that I and other commentators have missed, and how his supporters simply lap it up.
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I have said that I am sick of this election and can’t wait for it to be over. But who am I kidding? In the US, we are now in the stage of permanent campaign mode, where the process for the next election starts before the current one even ends. This can be traced to the fact that unlike in most countries where only the maximum duration of a person’s or government’s term is fixed and elections can be, and often are, held before the end of it often with very short notice, in America the date is pretty much written in stone and so ambitious people can plan their strategy well in advance.
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